


Dancing In The Rain

by silver_x_cross



Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-08
Updated: 2015-02-08
Packaged: 2018-03-11 03:42:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3312599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_x_cross/pseuds/silver_x_cross
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An unspecified future of both shows, in which both Stefan and Rebekah have decided to leave the toxic and destructive environments that are Mystic Falls and New Orleans (and Rebekah is in her original gorgeous body!) When leaving his troubles behind, Stefan decides to seek out the one he keeps being drawn to over and over again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dancing In The Rain

He was done. Just done. Too much pain was associated with Mystic Falls, there had been too many losses and Stefan had finally reached that point where he knew he had to walk away or lose what was left of his mind. Goodbyes were out of the question. Big pleading eyes would beg him to stay, he would be drawn back into the dramas all over again and once again the decision to leave would be put off until the next crisis and the next and the next. So it was before dawn when he slipped out, leaving a note behind. A note that could be summed up with ‘don’t call me, I’ll call you’. Maybe one day he would feel able to return. They would never leave Mystic Falls, he would always know where to find them. And besides, they were immortals. But for now he needed to find out who he was. Him, Stefan Salvatore. Not the brother of Damon, not the defender of doppelgangers, just him.

The sun was just starting to break over the horizon when he got to the car rental place, neatly compelling himself a vehicle. Something nondescript, even boring. Just four wheels that could get him far away as possible.

For the first couple of days he simply drove. Stopping off in motels when he was tired, hunting deer when he needed to feed. And as the space between himself and Mystic Falls grew, so did the feeling of peace within himself. And his mind began to wander, over the past, decades back. Times with Lexi, both good and bad. And to the last time he had truly and utterly felt free. With that he knew where he needed to go, who he needed to find. 

He expected the search to be easy. Klaus was making a lot of noise, as usual, in New Orleans, the King of a tiny Kingdom, dramatics and death. Stefan rolled his eyes at that, wondering how that hybrid had ever been able to avoid Mikael for so long. But she was another issue. Gone from New Orleans, free from her brothers. And it seemed when she wanted to go into hiding, she did a damn good job of it. There was no stories of new power plays in any cities. Stefan expanded his search out of the States, looking world wide. She would never stoop to living in the slums, but it seemed she was subtle in ways he had never appreciated. He followed every lead, chased every rumor. But they all dried up, one by one. He kept with it though, days turning into weeks, into months. 

And then, finally, he was in London, one early grey September morning. It was Fashion Week, and he wasn’t even surprised. It was something so small at first, a flash of blonde hair, and he almost ignored it, before an instinct told him to follow. Admiring the way she moved, that confidence and swagger that hadn’t changed in a hundred years. Corners were turned, and he wondered if she knew he was there, if she was playing a game with him. Knowing her, she probably was. A small alley, no one else around, and Stefan found himself thrown onto his back, a stiletto heel pressed against his jugular. He looked up into those ice blue eyes and he laughed.

“Hello, Rebekah.”

~~~

Rebekah looked down at Stefan, her eyebrow arched for a long moment before she took her foot away, letting him get up as she folded her arms. “What do you want, Stefan?” Of all the people who could have tracked her down, she had to admit, Stefan was not the one she was expecting. One of her brothers, sure. Or a minion on their behalf. But she had been pretty sure the Salvatore chapter of her life was finished for good. And yet she had sensed someone following her, realized who it was fairly quickly, and had gone through that same rush of emotions that he always elicited in her. No one, not Alexander, not Marcel, had ever gotten under her skin in quite the way Stefan had. 

“Maybe I just wanted to say hi?” He stood up, offering her that puppy dog smile and honest eyes, the ones that would have made her heart skip a beat if she was human, and as much as she didn’t want to, Rebekah found herself smiling just a little bit.

“You really expect me to believe you found me, in London of all places, to say hi?” There was skeptical amusement in her eyes before she turned wary again, glancing this way and that. “What’s going on? Where’s that doppelganger wench?” Where was the White Oak Stake? Where was the trap that was inevitably being set for her? Because wasn’t that always how it went? Stefan always wanted to please them.

Stefan could see the paranoia in her eyes and knew exactly why it was there. He couldn’t blame her really, the girl who had been betrayed so many many times in her long life, by him as well as others. “Elena’s probably still in Mystic Falls, I don’t know. I left.” Left that place, left her, left all of it. “It’s just me, Rebekah, I promise. And I really did just want to say hi.” Of course, ‘hi’ could mean so much. A chance to reconnect, a link to someone he had once been. Accepted. Not looked at as the vicious Ripper or treated as some project or leaned on as a defender, but just a guy who had many complicated layers to him, both good and bad. And Rebekah had been the one person to look past all of the bullshit and just see him.

And for several long moments, it felt as though she was doing just that. The weight of her gaze was on him, staring not just at him but into him as she tried to figure out if he was lying to her, what his angle might be. 

“Please, Rebekah.” 

Finally, she nodded, as if coming to a decision, and maybe in a way she was. “I’m staying at the Dorchester. Call for me at 5 tonight. Bring champagne. And make it decent stuff.” Said with a faintly disdainful sniff, because Rebekah Mikaelson so utterly believed that she only deserved the best. “And wear something with a touch more class. I was thinking about going to the opera tonight, I suppose you could come with me. The performance starts at 7:30, so do not be late.”

Stefan hated opera, hated the over dramatics of it all, the snobbery of the people involved, the way he could never actually follow the plot of whatever was supposed to be going on. 

He smiled, the kind of smile that lit up his face and showed through in his eyes. “I will be there.”

~~~

It was 4:55 when he arrived at the Dorchester. Of course Rebekah would be in the grand hotel, probably overlooking the park. He guessed one of the suites that costed a couple of thousand a night. Compelled for. Of course. He gave the front desk the name she was using, and was directed to the right rooms. When he knocked on the door, she opened it looking impressed. 

“Well, you’re not late, I will give you that much.” She reached and took the bottle from his hand, eying the label critically. “And you listened when I said the good stuff.” As though he had passed some tests, she stood back, letting him in. She looked stunning, a dress made of dark blue velvet clinging to her body with her hair swept up into some style that Stefan couldn’t even begin to name, but left her neck exposed. The very picture of elegance and sophistication. Somehow he had forgotten that side of her, the regal air of importance that she wore like a second skin. She was a woman who could be many things at many times, a sister, a lover, a brat. But she was also a vampire queen, an Original. And right at that moment, Stefan was starkly reminded of that. 

“So we’re clear,” she had her back to him, as she opened the bottle of champagne. “This is not a date. I’m not sleeping with you tonight. After the opera you’re going back to wherever it is that you’re staying.” No falling back into bad habits, no repeating the mistakes of the past, none of that, not ever again. And she was right. 

“I never thought it was a date.”

Quite what she made of his words, he didn’t know, her shoulders tensing just for a moment before she simply nodded. “Good.” When she turned back to him, she had glasses filled with the champagne in her hands, and she handed one to him. “What shall we toast to?”

Stefan thought a moment, before he held his glass up. “To London.”

Once again she had that studying look in her eyes as she stared at him before clinking her glass to his. “To London.”

~~~

The opera was nothing like what he had imagined.

Actually, that was not strictly true, it was full of all the pretensions he had expected, he had no idea what the performers were going on about and the audience was as posh and boring as anyone might think. But he had, dare he think it, fun. Rebekah had actually been charming company, her face lit with enthusiasm during the performance and her conversation flowing the rest of the time. They talked for hours, talked about London, talked about how the city had changed since she had last been there, laughed and playfully made fun of the people around them, drank champagne until the bottle he had brought and the one after that was dry. She was genuinely fascinated to hear what he had been up to on his travels to find her, though she didn’t ask why he had left Mystic Falls and he didn’t tell. Just as why she had left New Orleans remained unsaid. Because they didn’t matter. None of that mattered. It was just the two of them, two people with a connection enjoying a city that had so much history and culture and beauty.

All too soon the night began to stretch into morning and Stefan found himself at the steps of the Dorchester again, Rebekah turning and removing her hand from his arm with a faint smile of regret. For a moment it looked as though a thousand thoughts of indecision were flitting across her mind before she took a step away.

“Goodnight, Stefan.” 

Her smile was mirrored on his face as he turned to walk away, only to be stopped by the sound of her voice. “You know…” There was actual shyness in her tone. “There’s a performance at the ballet tomorrow night I was thinking of going to. If you wanted to join me.”

Another bright grin of genuine happiness from him. “Same time?” At her nod he gave her a mock salute. “I will be right here then. Sleep well, Rebekah.”

~~~

The next day, she could not concentrate on the fashion shows going on in front of her. She managed to play her balancing act of getting close to the front without ever being caught on camera, second nature for her by now, avoid being seen, just in case. But as the models strutted down the runways, Rebekah’s gaze barely took in the details of colors and cuts before her. Her mind was just playing the events of the previous night over and over again, the way Stefan had looked in that suit, the easy charm he had had. Reminding her so painfully of ‘her’ Stefan. Others might want to think that he hadn’t had feelings then, that he had so simply been the Ripper the whole time, but that hadn’t been the case. He had felt things. Fun, pleasure and yes, love. Just because a love wasn’t filled with angst and pain, didn’t make it any less real. What they’d had had been epic, and he was a man who had accepted her, wanted her. Not the Original sister, not the power that came with being close to Klaus, but her. And she had loved him, oh how she had loved him. Loved that cocky smirk and swagger, and also how deep those eyes could be. 

And that was a love that hadn’t vanished upon her abrupt awakening in the 21st century. For him decades had passed, for her mere moments. She had watched the man she loved so utterly absorbed in the doppelganger, throwing his life away at her whims. And she had wanted to scream, wanted to shake him, to remind him of what they had had, a time when he was defined by no one but himself.

There had been a time she had felt a glimmer of hope. Elena had ditched him for Damon, and he was talking as though he wanted the cure for himself. Rebekah had dared to hope that he had been free. Until another dagger in her heart. All logic told her after that that she should stay away from him, run and not look back, and yet she stayed. Always drawn back to him, unable to finally make that break away. Letting him back into her bed, her heart. When they had danced among the balloons, and she had let herself dare to dream.

When Kol had died, she had felt as though her heart had been torn from her chest. She had bickered with him, of course she had, but he had still been her brother. And while she had seen the guilt on Stefan’s face when he broke the news to her, the pain of knowing his involvement cut through her. And she had sworn never to dance with him again. They came close, once or twice. In the woods, against the trees, by the fire. But never had she let him dance with her again and when she had left Mystic Falls, she assumed she had left him too. For good.

Until he had appeared back in her life. Still with that look, still with that presence that she could never resist.

One night. At the opera. And they would not dance. That was what she swore to herself.

Until she had invited him for the next night. 

It was only the sound of a throat being cleared next to her that made Rebekah realize that the show was over and everyone else had gone. With the haughty look that she could wield so well, she stood and walked out, head held high. 

It was just the ballet.

That didn’t make it a big deal.

~~~

The ballet was just as surprisingly enjoyable for Stefan as the opera had been. Again, Rebekah looked beautiful, and they talked well into the night. She told him about the history of London, a city he had never been to before and she offered to show him around. The words came tumbling out quickly, clearly without her putting much thought into it and he could see the moment she hesitated, that flash of almost fear in her eyes before he smiled gently and told her he would really like that. And the happiness that glowed on her face warmed his heart.

The following day involved a tour of some of the touristy parts of the city, pointing out the museums, taking Stefan into some of the galleries. Entertaining him with stories she knew about some of the subjects of the portraits and the artists who had created them. Every now and then a shadow entered her eyes as some memory or another caused some pain, but then the moment would move on and she would be onto the next topic, her hands moving at the same speed as her lips as she gestured to emphasize points. The day after that she showed him the Tate Modern, and it was his turn to share stories of the artists and people of the 20th century, the time she had missed while in her forced sleep in her coffin. He told her the stories of partying with rock stars and getting into trouble with Lexi, enjoying getting to talk about his best friend without the lingering hurt at her death, that feeling that she was somehow a forbidden topic. And Rebekah listened to it all with rapt attention. 

That evening they went to a performance of a Shakespeare play, a new production of Much Ado About Nothing. Shakespeare had never been something Stefan had had the time or patience with before, but he did enjoy relaxing with Rebekah, drinking cocktails with her, watching the actors on the stage telling the story of romance and comedy. They were a pair of vampires, who had been through so much pain and drama in their lives, both suffered and caused by them. Two immortals who would so often be defined by their family names. And yet it was so easy for them both to forget that for a while. To be a couple of friends enjoying each others company and simply seeing where life took them next.

The days stretched into weeks. And the two never stopped finding new things to talk about. History, politics, world affairs, the latest TV dramas. Often agreeing, sometimes bickering (she was catching up on classic movies and had the audacity to think that Breakfast at Tiffany’s was better than Citizen Kane) but always animated. They attended shows together, more operas and ballets, but also musicals, ranging from Les Miserables to Wicked, which Stefan had to admit, was pretty good. Rebekah had been entranced by the whole thing, beginning to end, even sending him out during the interval to get more drinks, just in case she missed even a second of the curtain going up. Their goodnights were becoming longer as well, on the steps of the Dorchester, holding her hand in his, lingering soft kisses on her cheeks. 

It was only when he saw the decorations on display for Halloween that Stefan realized October was nearly finished and he hadn’t even thought about Mystic Falls in weeks.

~~~

It was the night of Halloween and Rebekah had somehow persuaded him that it would be fun to dress up as cliched vampires. Which, in many ways was just them dressed in shades of black formal clothes, with their vampiric features on display, causing more than one drunken Brit to shout ‘awesome make-up, mate’ at them. They flitted through parties, now all too accustomed to the routine. Being known, welcomed, while avoiding notoriety, or photographers. Living the high life while still maintaining a level of privacy that allowed them to be anonymous. What Rebekah never said, but Stefan still knew anyway, was that she didn’t want to be tracked down easily, should her brothers decide to haul her back. 

As the nightlife began to draw to a close, and the traffic of the capitol looked its most chaotic, it was Rebekah, surprisingly, who suggested they just walk back to the Dorchester, cutting through Hyde Park. She slipped her heels off, letting them dangle from her fingers by a strap, quite happy to walk barefoot through the grass. And really, when she gave him that look, the look that said to dare to try something new, he was helpless to resist. 

They were over half way through, the lights of the Dorchester well within view when it started to rain, a few light drops at first before the skies truly opened, drenching them both within moments. Rebekah shrieked and immediately dived for the nearest tree, taking shelter beneath the branches, a mostly futile gesture as the leaves were already starting to fall for the year. Stefan followed her, laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. She was an Original vampire, hiding from a little rain, her hair already starting to look damp and curling at the ends as it clung to her shoulders and her mascara smudging under her eyes. 

She looked beautiful.

“Dance with me.” He wasn’t even sure where the request came from, just that he really, suddenly, wanted to dance with her in the empty park, in the middle of the night, in the pouring rain. He even held out his hand to her, wanting to coax her out.

But she hesitated, a glimpse of fear in her eyes. “I promised myself I would never dance with you again.” The confusion he felt must have shown on his face because she continued on. “We danced in the twenties and I was happy and then a century was taken from me and you were gone even though you were right there. And we danced at the school with the koala corsage and I wanted to believe it could be real, but then my brother was killed. When we dance, Stefan, I’m happy and then when it’s over I hurt more than ever. And I can’t go through that again, I won’t.” There had always been the ghosts of others there when they had danced before. Klaus, Elena, everyone else in their lives. 

Stefan shook his head, but this was different. “It’s just you and me now, Rebekah. And I want to dance with you and it doesn’t have to end this time.”

“No feelings, no attachments?” So much wariness, mixed with that glimmer of hope in her tone.

This time his shaking of his head was more vehement. “No, the opposite this time. This is our time now, us.” His hand was still out stretched and this time she took it, her fingers lacing through his as she allowed herself to be pulled closer, still barefoot as she stepped out fully in the rain, his arms moving around her waist to pull her closer.

“There’s no music.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

And it didn’t. They swayed to the sound of the raindrops pattering against the ground and the trees around them, trickles of water sliding over their skin as their clothes clung to them. It took a little while, but they began to relax into each other, finding the rhythm again they had once had so easily. The rest of the world didn’t matter, didn’t exist, just the two of them in that moment. And when Rebekah looked up at him, Stefan didn’t hesitate, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, finally kissing her.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic in nearly ten years! What was supposed to be a brief one shot ficlet ended up becoming rather longer, and one I might continue at some stage.


End file.
